


Seeing the Truth

by Stariceling



Category: Tantei Gakuen Q | Detective Academy Q
Genre: F/M, Kisses, nosey friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9431282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stariceling/pseuds/Stariceling
Summary: Finding Ryu after a case, Megu realizes how well she and Ryu have gotten to know each other, and how much they still have to learn.





	

**Author's Note:**

> What happens when I grab random prompts for myself. Old fandoms return to me! Now I want to watch this all over again.
> 
> Prompt was 'getting caught kissing.' Takes place after the Mayahime murder case (or you could just say after the anime.)

Ryu might have found a good hiding place in the garden, except Megu has already been out here once tonight. She can’t help noticing every twig out of place, each patch of bent grass, the little scuff in the dirt that wasn’t there this afternoon. The faint trail is clear to her, but Megu tries not to make it clearer as she picks her way along it.

She’s only going to make sure Ryu is okay and then she will leave him alone. It’s just that he left so quickly after the arrest. He has a tendency to hide when hurt.

He hasn’t hidden himself very thoroughly. Once she’s around the wall of smooth ornamental hedge he’s in plain sight. He’s chosen the wide lip of one of the dry fountains to sit on, facing away from the path.

The rose garden looks eerie at night. The fountains, the trellises, and the white gravel paths are unexpectedly bright under the moon. The bushes and canes are completely bare of roses, ruthlessly deadheaded so they could bloom for a wedding that won’t take place now.

There’s no way he doesn’t hear her approach with the way her feet crunch on the gravel, but he waits until she’s practically in front of him to look up. He’s going to have an impressive black eye tomorrow. The bruise is worryingly dramatic under moonlight.

She probably won’t see the bruise tomorrow. He’s good with makeup. Kyu keeps calling him stingy for not teaching them.

At this point she almost feels silly saying it. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.” They both know she’s not talking about something superficial like a black eye.

Ryu gives her the faint hint of smile. He dips his gaze rather than his head, as if acknowledging some small kindness. “I’m fine. To be honest I’m much more worried about how you’re doing.”

He’s worried about her and he ran off to hide on the other side of the estate? Megu braces one hand on her hip with an immediate flash of annoyance.

“Are you telling me you lured me out here?”

“Yes. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Ryu moves his hand from the white marble of the fountain to his lap, making room for her even though there is already plenty of room.

Megu plunks herself down next to him with a small huff and leans her hand directly where his was a moment ago.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I wish we didn’t have to spend another night here, but I’ll be fine.”

“I wanted to say, about what I said earlier-”

“It’s fine!” Megu interrupts, “I already know what it looks like when you’re lying.”

“Good.” The answer comes before Megu can wonder if she’s said the wrong thing. Ryu takes a breath and says it again with his voice softer, but just as emphatic, “Good.”

They are trying to be more open with each other, but to say that much is a lot, for both of them. Megu tries to make it less frightening by telling herself their lives may someday come down to him trusting that she will see a lie, or a truth, that no one else can see.

Of course, she knows exactly what words he wanted to bring up again.

_Because I love her, and I would do anything to protect her._

He said it because bargaining wasn’t going to work and reason never had a chance. He said it because he knew it was something that would shock the suspect out of hurting her. He knew the motive in this case was desperate, protective love gone violent. He has already explained the whole thing as if it came from polished logic instead of desperate intuition, and maybe it did.

But Megu really does know how he looks when he lies. She knows it was absolutely true.

Ryu takes his hand out of his lap and reaches over to touch the back of her hand. His fingers arc around her wrist and then down to the heel of her hand. She lifts her hand to accommodate his until it comes to rest under hers, palm-to-palm, and their fingers lace together.

She doesn’t know everything about him. She doesn’t know why he prefers not to cover her hand, why he lays his open hand against her cheek and rarely anywhere else. He’s following some set of rules she hasn’t worked out yet.

She does know that when he smiles like that something is better than it was ten minutes ago. He’s not amused but happy. He’s warmed up and started to open up as well, especially since living with Kyu, and it shows now in his smile.

“I love you. I know you already know, but that’s not how I would have chosen to say it the first time.”

“I know.” In a small way she’s glad to have confessed first, to have said it first. He didn’t leave her wondering if her feelings were returned, even if he didn’t say the words.

There is a part of her that’s still hopelessly romantic and might have preferred something like a rose garden in full bloom under the summer sun, but they’re here now and that’s enough.

Megu leans in to touch a soft kiss to Ryu’s cheek. She lets him turn into it until his lips brush hers.

Ryu pulls back, only enough to put cool night air between them, and then kisses her again. Kissing seems like a very good idea right now, better than talking.

Megu scoots closer until their knees are pressed together. She reaches for him with her free hand. Not having her own clear rules to follow she ends up with her hand on his arm, fingers hooked in his sweater, while his hand stays gentle against her cheek.

For a moment all Megu wants to think about is his lips moving softly against hers. Each time they separate by so much as a breath there’s another kiss, sweet and grounding. She might happily count up every day between her confession and his in kisses.

“Found you!”

Megu jumps and twists around to find Kyu on the other side of the rose garden, grinning like he’s just won at hide and seek.

“Did you follow me out here?”

“Yup! I wanted to check that you two were okay. I didn’t realize you were still busy.”

“We were just. . .” and there the excuse dies, because she can’t lie when she’s sure he’s just seen them kissing. Kyu is being way too casual about this and that only makes it even more difficult to keep calm. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this!”

“It’s okay. Everyone knows you’re dating,” Kyu reassures her, all innocent smiles and cheer.

Maybe it can’t be helped, considering their classmates. Megu can’t help feeling mortified anyway. Ryu is doubled over laughing next to her, which makes it difficult to hang on to anything resembling anger. He never used to really laugh. Now when he does it makes him breathless, like he’s not used to it.

When Ryu stands and helps her up he’s still smiling. Even if all the poise and coolness melts away when he laughs like that he’s still a gentleman.

He holds her hand through the quiet of the deserted garden, but lets go of both her hand and his smile half a dozen steps before they reach the light.

“Kyu, don’t talk to anyone outside of class about us,” he finally says.

Kyu, who doesn’t seem to understand why they’re being so quiet, first says, “Why?” then catches something on Ryu’s face that makes him shrug and amend it to, “Okay.”

“Maybe we should be more careful.” There are worse outcomes than getting caught by Kyu, embarrassing as that was.

She doesn’t miss that Ryu has tucked his hand in his pocket, out of reach. “We should be more careful,” he agrees.

“Why?” Kyu repeats, stretching. “We’re not going to tease you that much.”

“We can’t let it get in the way on a case. Just because it happened to help one time is no excuse.”

This is true, logically, and it’s the perfect explanation to make sure Kyu remembers. It’s also an absolute lie. He must know she knows, but he looks at her with such perfect calm it almost makes her doubt herself.

They’re going to have to talk about this, about whatever he’s lying about, and that’s a little frightening.

Maybe he can read her as well as she can read him because when he stops and holds the door for her he says, “I’ll tell you soon.”

It’s not a lie or a truth, because the world is not divided starkly in two and he is still deciding what to do.

And then they’re back under the oppressive atmosphere (shock, and grief, and quiet resentment, and they’ve endured worse but it’s exhausting to be here.) Megu already misses the garden and the feeling of Ryu’s hand in hers, but she can deal with it.

Today’s case may be solved, but it’s obvious that there’s another truth she needs to find.


End file.
